Cyberbullying And Its Effects On Society

The Cyberbullying Act also applies to bullying behaviors on the Internet even when it is off campus. When cyberbullying is aimed at others off-campus, schools are limited in the actions they can take. Recent court decisions have determined that the cyberbullying act must substantially interfere with the victim’s ability to learn at school, it disrupt the operation of the school, or significantly threaten the student’s safety while on school grounds. However, the term “substantially” is open to interpretation and fails to clearly define the

Cyberbullying is a new form of bullying that allows individuals to threaten or intimidate others via online resources like social media and instant messaging, as well as other electronic technology like smartphones and tablets. Due to the fact that cyberbullying is a fairly new concept, due to the advances in technology it has become one of the most prevalent sources of bullying among adolescents. The ease in which children can gain access and use electronic technology, and the fact that cyberbullying most of the time can remain anonymous, has led to an increase in this form of bullying. With reports indicating that 93% of teens are active users of the Internet and 75% own a cell phone, up from 45% in 2004, there is great potential for cyberbullying among youths (Schneider, O’Donnell, Stueve, & Coulter, 2012).The increase in cyberbullying has led to an increase in suicide rates among adolescent, and has expanded bullying past the traditional school environment.

Traditional face-to-face bullying is a widespread act and has been found to take place in social contexts such as parks or schools, but with the increased use of technology, cyberbullying has become another platform for bullying to occur (Fanti, Demetriou, & Hawa, 2012). Cyberbullying is the act of harassing individuals via the internet or cellphones (Smith et al., 2008). Cyberbullying now allows bullies to victimize individuals from anywhere and at any time, creating an inescapability component (Patchin & Hinduja, 2006; Nuccitelli, 2012). Cyberbullying has become a serious issue for adolescents; in 2014 50% of adolescents reported having been cyberbullied and approximately 20% of adolescents reported recurring cyberbullying (NOBullying.com,

With the introduction of Internet, bullying has taken a new form. Most of the victims of traditional bullying and cyberbullying are teens and other youth; they are easy targets as they are the new to the internet and do not know much about what happens online (Campbell, 2005). Bullying is a risk factor for social and emotional change among children. Most bully victims range in age from 15 to 18 years, with the perpetrators turning towards technology to harass the intended victims (Gradinger & Strohmeier, 2009). Technology does not only include social networking sites on the Internet, it can also include the use of other forms of technology like cell phones, pagers, email, SMS and instant messaging (Seals & Young, 2004). Cyberbullies find their targets easily, 24/7, with technology. It becomes easy for them to find and harass their intended targets (Hinduja & Patchin, 2007; Juvonen & Gross, 2008; Dooley,

Bullying is a term that most of us recognize. We have either experienced it first hand or been a witness to it. Due to the precedent of today’s technology and the high speed Internet, bullying has evolved into a virtual war zone and the casualties, unfortunately are our youths. As stated by Cross, Dooley, and Pyzalski (2009) cyber-bullying by definition is “an aggressive, intentional act carried out by a group or individual, using electronic forms of contact, repeatedly and over time against a victim who cannot easily defend him or herself.” Cyber-bullying is most prominent among today’s teenagers and youth. The motivation for this type of harm is stemmed from different agents and can be driven by economic,

“Cyberbullying is usually defined as a form of bullying that uses electronic means such as email, mobile phones, messages, instant messages, text messages, social networking sites, and personal webpages, with the intention of causing harm through repeated hostile conduct” (Ortega). The most popular form of cyberbullying today is through the use of social networking through Facebook. These issues take place through comments that are left of pictures that are uploaded or the conversations that take place because of statuses that are posted. Looking at the younger generations we are able to see these issues starting in the elementary schools and continuing on through the college

The article written by Carol M. Walker, Beth Rajan Sockman, and Steven Koehn, “An Exploratory Study of Cyberbullying with Undergraduate University Students” delves into their study done on undergraduate students to address technology and its impact on cyberbullying. Cyberbullying is defined as, “The use of information and communication technologies such as email, cellphones, instant messaging… to promote deliberate, repeated and hurtful behavior with the intent to harm others” (Tech Trends Journal, Vol. 55, Issue 2, pg. 32). The purpose of this study was to examine what instances of cyberbullying undergraduate students experience, as well as what forms of technology are used in such instances. The questions posed were: What instances of cyberbullying do undergraduate students experience, and what role does gender play in cyberbullying at the undergraduate level?, and What forms of technology do undergraduate students use to perpetrate or receive bullying , and how often does it occur? Some questions that were also addressed were: What impact does the cellphone have on the interactions of undergraduate students as they maintain their status according to the Social Dominance theory?, How do social networking sites affect these students?, and Has the ability to reply instantly, without personal contact, augmented the bullying scene?

Teenagers have been bullying and pushing each other around since the beginning of times, But now with technology texting, IMing, Facebook, Myspace, Youtube, bullies not longer have to confront their victims face to face. They can stay in the shadows and torture their targets anonymously; this new phenomenon is called Cyberbullying. What is Cyberbullying? Cyberbullying is defined as aggressive; intentional act carried out by a group or individual using an electronic form of contact, repeatedly over a period against a victim that can‘t easily defend him or herself (National Crime Prevention, 2016). These incidents have increased over the past few years, over 81% of our teens think that cyber bullying is easier than bullying a person when 68% believe that it is a serious problem (Dosomething.org. 2016). Cyberbullying is a serious issue in the arose not only from children but our future cultures, and we should act on it now to minimize it and control it.

Any child can tell you that bullying has not been eradicated in schools and society. With the lowering age of phone possession, the risk of cyberbullying is more likely. According to the Cyberbullying Research Center, 34.4% of 11 to 15-year-olds were “electronically bullied.” This data presents a new fear for adolescent students, especially females. Girls are prone to be cyberbullied at a whopping 40.6% as opposed to 28.2% for males (Patchin). While being bullied in person, aggressors targeting females are interested in attacking the victim’s appearance or spreading hurtful rumors. The same thing happens in cyberspace. Since these acts can be anonymous when using certain applications, it is harder than ever to track the bully and about impossible to

Bullying has been an issue in traditional school environments since the beginning of public schooling. Though a child may be tormented at school, they still had home as a safe place, where it would stop. That safe place is no longer feasible in modern ages as schoolyard bullying has taken on a new ugly face as cyberbullying. “Cyberbullying combines aspects of traditional verbal bullying and social bullying. However, instead of relying on face-to-face interactions with others, it relies on the use of computers and cell phones, which give widespread access to forms of communication that include texting, emailing, and accessing social media sites such as Twitter or Facebook”. (“Cyberbullying Can Lead”) Cyberbullying has increased drastically in recent years with the popularization of social media. Social media gives the user the opportunity to create an anonymous or fake account. These fake accounts allow the user to bully the victim incognito, making it much more difficult to peruse action to stop the bullying. Because of this no-faced bully, teens are less likely to inform their parents or guardians, or are too afraid to speak up because they are given

Cyberbullying is an extreme problem in many high school's today. Cyberbullying is the use of electronic communication to bully a person, usually involving threatening messages. As Robinson says, “cyberbullying includes mean or nasty text messages, pictures, videos, or emails that are sent directly to the person through the internet or mobile phone” (69). It is one of the many ways that teens are emotionally damaged by being bullied. It can cause long term problems for both the victim and the bully. Cyberbullying is an issue that mainly affects teenagers, “at this age, young people are at a development stage in which risk-taking and immature decision making can lead to negative outcomes” (Robinson 68). Today, due to the development of technology, cyber-bullying has become a huge issue throughout almost every high school. Cyberbullying isn’t an issue that should be taken lightly, it can have many awful and devastating outcomes. Preventing cyberbullying isn’t a job that can be done alone. Parents, teachers, and the students must all work together to tackle the problem and to prevent cyberbullying from happening.

Cyber bullying is the use of the electronic devices to bully a person, typically by sending messages of an intimidating or threatening nature. It also involves the use of communication tools such as text messages, social media sites, websites and chats, (Nancy, 2007). Our youth may not have the experience or education of the consequences bullying can have, this can lead to serious concerns of getting into danger and suffering as they mature throughout their life.

Cyberbullying occurs when technology is used to tamper with, abuse, shame, or target another person online. It is usually a problem that happens among adolescents but when adults are involved it can become a crime that can possibly lead to prison time. Most victims are terrified to report that they were bullied, making it nearly impossible to report the number of people affected. Recent studies have shown that 25% of teens are victims of cyberbullying and 16.67% have admitted that they have cyberbullied another person. The advancement of technology in our society has inevitably brought a rise to cyberbullying, which can now happen anytime and victims can be oppressed from thousands of miles away. The sheer convenience that the internet now offers to bullies allows them to harass victims with just a tap of a keyboard. Experts have recorded that there is a general increase in suicidal thoughts, attempts, and completions from both cyberbullying victims along with the bullies themselves. Some signs of cyberbullying are; “being very secretive or protected of one's digital life, avoiding school or group gatherings, and being nervous or jumpy when getting an instant message, text, or email.” Parents can help their child if they are being cyberbullied by communicating to them and comforting them. Parents should also boost their kids by telling them it's not their fault and they also make them feel less lonely.

With the growing numbers of children plugging into technology and surfing the World Wide Web on the waves of cyberspace comes the emergent problem of cyberbullying. No longer are children confined to the playground and hallways to spread their dissent. A study conducted by Dosomething.org showed that forty-three percent of children confided that they had been bullied online. With over eighty percent of teens using a cell phone with internet access and ninety percent signing into social media accounts, the opportunity to bully behind the screen is without a doubt a problem of epic proportions (Dosomething.org). These

Facebook, Instagram, Kik, ask.fm and Twitter are among the most popular social media networking sites. In today’s society social media is advertised as a great way to stay connected. It promotes the idea that you’ll never be out of contact with anyone in the